“Our study proposes climatic changes as the leading cause for the increases in plant growth over the last two decades, with lesser contribution from carbon dioxide fertilization and forest re-growth,” said Nemani. No one knows whether these positive impacts are due to short-term climate cycles or longer-term global climate changes. Also, a 36 percent increase in global population, from 4.45 billion in 1980 to 6.08 billion in 2000, overshadows the increases in plant growth.
NASA satellites continue to measure global changes in NPP and will provide scientists with a strong platform for understanding changes in Earth’s systems in years and decades to come. The measurements are made using the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometers on NOAA TIROS-N satellites.